Andrew Razeghi Profile

Andrew Razeghi is a writer, educator, advisor and adjunct professor at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He has advised many organizations on creativity, innovation and leadership, including Aurora Healthcare, Brinker International, Darden Restaurants, GE, GlaxoSmithKline, the Houston Texans, Motorola, Novartis, PepsiCo, Switzerland Tourism and World Kitchen.

Andrew has taught an MBA course on strategy and organization at The Graduate School of Business at Loyola University Chicago, and he was one of the first American professors to teach free market economics at The Prague University of Economics in The Czech Republic. Currently he serves as a review panelist for The Wright Centers of Innovation at The National Academies of Science, a Thought Leader with Knowledge Dialogue and an Advisory Board Member of Americans for Informed Democracy.

Andrew has appeared in many media outlets, including ABC-TV, Air America, The Chicago Sun-Times, China Daily, El Norte, FAST COMPANY, NPR, The San Francisco Chronicle and The San Jose Mercury News. Andrew’s latest book, The Riddle: Where Ideas Come From and How to Have Better Ones, was named one of FAST COMPANY magazine’s “Smart Books.”

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Andrew Razeghi is adjunct associate professor at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. As a writer, educator, and adviser to organizations on creativity, innovation and leadership, his work spans industries, from consumer packaged goods to healthcare, tourism to media, and non-profit organizations to professional sports teams.

A few of his clients include Aurora Healthcare, Brinker International, Darden Restaurants, GE, GlaxoSmithKline, the Houston Texans, Motorola, Novartis, PepsiCo, Switzerland Tourism, and World Kitchen. Andrew speaks to thousands of people each year at trade association and organization events and has appeared in a number of media outlets including ABC-TV, Air America, The Chicago Sun-Times, China Daily, El Norte (Mexico), FAST COMPANY, NPR, The San Francisco Chronicle, and The San Jose Mercury News.

Prior to joining Kellogg, Andrew taught the capstone MBA course on strategy and organization at The Graduate School of Business at Loyola University Chicago. Shortly after the fall of communism in Central Europe, he was invited to be among the first American professors to teach free market economics at The Prague University of Economics in Prague, The Czech Republic. In addition to his work as an educator and adviser, Andrew is a review panelist for The Wright Centers of Innovation at The National Academies of Science in Washington, D.C.; a Thought Leader with Knowledge Dialogue; and an Advisory Board Member of Americans for Informed Democracy (AID) – a non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization working to raise global awareness on more than 500 university campuses and in more than 10 countries.

Andrew’s newest book on innovation is entitled THE RIDDLE: WHERE IDEAS COME FROM AND HOW TO HAVE BETTER ONES (February 2008, Jossey-Bass/Wiley). In THE RIDDLE, professor Razeghi explains how the common pre-cursors to “Eureka moments” can be replicated in order to help people learn to become more innovative. FAST COMPANY magazine selected THE RIDDLE as one of its “Smart Books for 2008.”

Andrew Razeghi Speaking Videos

TEDx: Andrew Razeghi, StrategyLab

In his presentation at TEDx DFS, Andrew discusses creativity. “Can creativity be taught?” he asks the audience. He says that for years his answer was, “Yes it can.” He then asks “Can creativity be learned?” He says that he searched for an answer to this question in the psychology department at the school where he teaches, and he found a single word on a poster: “Aha.” This led him to research what he calls the “Eureka moment.”

He goes on to discuss where ideas come from. He asks the audience where they are when their best ideas come to them. A few of the answers include, “brushing your teeth,” “in the shower” and “driving to work.” He explains that ideas often come to people when they are in a “dazed and confused state.” He shows a clip of Keith Richards talking about how he comes up with song ideas. “It’s like an antenna,” he says. “I just pick them up.” Andrew continues by discussing the concept of “opportunistic assimilation,” which is when people are stuck on a problem and start assimilating everything around them.

Andrew Razeghi: Thoughts on Innovation, Growth, and Strategy

TEDx: Andrew Razeghi, StrategyLab

Andrew Razeghi: Thoughts on Innovation, Growth, and Strategy

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Andrew Razeghi's Speech Descriptions

In his presentations, Andrew uses research from his famous book, The Riddle: Where Ideas Come From and How to Have Better Ones, and his experience as a business advisor and professor, to help audiences discover their imagination and creativity and have their own “Eureka” moments. He motivates audiences to unleash their powers of innovation and leadership so they can improve their performance and achieve the impossible.

THE RIDDLE: Where Ideas Come From and How to Have Better Ones
Have you ever had a problem you couldn′t figure out no matter how hard you tried? Someone likely advised you to "Take a break. Don′t think so hard." And so you did. And then, on waking up, while in the shower, or while stuck in traffic, it happened. "Aha!" you said. "I′ve got it! I′ve figured it out!" Just when you least expected it, you became suddenly creative an instant innovator was born!

In this fascinating keynote presentation, best-selling author and Kellogg School of Management professor Andrew Razeghi will share research from his book entitled THE RIDDLE whereby he takes readers on a journey into the precise moment of creative insight known famously as the Eureka moment. Professor Razeghi will explain why it happens, when it happens, and most importantly - what you can do to make it happen more often. As it turns out, "thinking differently" may be oversold. If you want to learn to be more innovative, you won’t want to miss this talk!

Learn why you have your best ideas when you are least likely trying to have them

Learn how to improve your creativity by practicing common pre-cursors to Eureka!

HOPE: How Triumphant Leaders Create the Future

Whether businesses face uncertainty or meet the challenge of the constant pressure to innovate, leaders must dig deep to keep their focus and stay effective. In his best-selling book and keynote presentation, Kellogg School of Management professor Andrew Razeghi isolates the critical factor that is a core element of successful leadership in any climate.

This presentation sheds new light on an ancient virtue by exploring why some leaders succeed while others fail. Using research from neuroscience and behavioral psychology along with real world stories of leaders across disciplines, Razeghi illustrates the role of belief systems as leadership tools.

This keynote presentation is rich in inspiring stories from business, politics, science, sports, art, religion, exploration, and philanthropy. Professor Razeghi also presents a wealth of thoughtful questions to ponder to help you learn to turn your beliefs into actionable and tangible tools.

Learn the science behind the power of your beliefs over your performance and the performance of your team

Learn how belief systems have been used by history’s greatest leaders to achieve the impossible

Learn how to create a belief system that will improve your capacity to create, make decisions, and solve problems.

What People are Saying about Seeing Andrew Speak

Rating Entries

“Andrew, First of all, let me congratulate you for such a great conference in Cancun last week!!! Your perspective was fresh and practical. Everybody loved it. In fact, we just received the meeting evaluations and you were one of the speakers with the highest scores (4.8 out of 5!). I think your presentation was excellent! Best Regards,” Salvador Alva President Pepsico Latin America

“Andrew, It was very nice meeting you during our APAF NYC summit last week! Your class on Innovation & Imagination was the best! Best Regards,” Ed Mohtashemi Principal Engineer, EQ Lead GE Energy, Nuclear

“Andrew is a dynamic, entertaining presenter. The content was perfectly paced and funny to boot. Outstanding!” Executive Education Program Participant Kellogg School of Management Northwestern University

“The CEO Summit gets better and better each year. Andrew Razeghi’s session was particularly valuable because we were able to more clearly reach consensus on the critical issues currently facing the industry.” Elly S. Valas Executive Director North American Retail Dealers Association

“Great speaker! Motivational and inspirational. Set a good scene for the theme of the meeting.” Software Spectrum Leadership Summit

“Once again, thank you! I feel highly motivated and have received great benefit by participating in a bit of the Andrew Razeghi experience!”Marc Guerrero II Simposio Turistico Participant Boletín Turistico

“I can’t thank you enough for your outstanding presentation. Your comments were on target and the presentation exceeded my expectations. On top of that, you are a pleasure to work with, thanks.” Trudy Goldman ASSE

“Thank you for the excellent General Session and especially the Plenary Session. I believe you truly have started a movement in our industry. Thanks again!” Amy Stewart Research Scientist Battelle

“Andrew Razeghi is fantastic! He really motivated our team and gave us exercises that were helpful and insightful in order to apply his teaching. These exercises pushed our teams outside their comfort zones and resulted in creative, memorable learning. Our team loved not only his interaction with the audience, but also his hands-on participation with the crowd!” Cheryl Read Dean Foods

“Our Executive Team was greatly assisted by Andrew in developing a strategic road map to our future. Without his guidance I’m sure we would be approaching our future with less certainty.” Frank Hudetz Chairman Solar Communications

“We at Kisco Retirement Communities have benefited from Andrew’s insight, creativity, and ability to challenge our strategic thinking at all levels of the organization.” Andy Kohlberg CEO Kohlberg & Company

“Andrew’s insight and vision greatly added to our knowledge base in evaluation of growth alternatives. His perceptions would add great value to most business applications.” Kenneth Hull Follett Corporation

“Masterful! Andrew’s depth of content and method of delivery were a great capstone to a wonderful week.” Executive Education Participant Kellogg School of Management Northwestern University

Andrew, “I must tell you…I have NEVER (in 3 years) had so many compliments and thank you from our membership for a specific speaker as I have received since Tuesday. You were absolutely awesome and inspiring. Your stories were inspiring and insightful and our members were the most excited and thankful for your presentation – to such a high level that I have never before seen. We will definitely welcome you back in the future and are very appreciative of your time and knowledge.” Juli Bohm MENG (Marketing Executives Networking Group) Chicago, IL

Books by Andrew Razeghi:

Artists, scientists, and entrepreneurs thrive on their ability to be creative. New wealth flows to those who successfully introduce new ideas.

While organizations claim to value creativity, they are often at a loss when attempting to conjure up novel ideas, particularly in a world where technology has made information readily available to everyone. As a result, leaders ask, “Where will the next big idea come from?” In response, they allocate significant resources for innovation; however the source of creative inspiration has remained a mystery.

Science has shown that it’s possible to create conditions under which the mind is more prepared to have insights, or “aha! moments.” In this fascinating book, Andrew Razeghi examines the precursors to creative insight and offers clear-cut methods for making “Eureka moments” routine practice rather than lucky accidents. Combining the latest scientific research, interviews with current innovators, and studies of history’s most creative minds, he dissects the creative process and presents a practical approach for inspiring innovation.

The Riddle illustrates how replicating these precursors – curiosity, constraints, connections, conventions, and codes – can increase your odds of success at innovation. For example, the author reveals how to inspire creativity through controllable and reproducible thoughts and behaviors such as altering your mood, changing the context in which you solve problems, creating metaphors, and even simply writing things down. He also explores the role of sleep, memory, and ethnicity as they pertain to creative insight.

The Riddle takes the mystery out of the creative process and plants it squarely in the realm of the scientific. Using the techniques outlined in this book, innovators can draw on the “Eureka moment” again and again.

Whether businesses face uncertainty or meet the challenge of the constant pressure to innovate, leaders must dig deep to keep their focus and stay effective. In this landmark new book, HOPE: HOW TRIUMPHANT LEADERS CREATE THE FUTURE (Jossey-Bass, June 2006), Andrew Razeghi isolates the critical factor that is a core element of successful leadership and business strategy in any climate. The book unveils the answer to a single question, namely, in moments of uncertainty, why do some leaders succeed while others fail? Fundamentally, how do they make hope happen?

Using research from neuroscience and behavioral psychology, along with real world stories of CEOs, business start-ups, political leaders, groundbreaking scientists, and others, Razeghi shows that hope is a proven tool for competitive advantage.

In HOPE, Andrew reveals a solid strategy that develops leadership skills and applies them to individuals, teams, and organizations. The book is rich in inspiring stories from business, politics, science, sports, art, religion, exploration, and philanthropy. It also presents a wealth of thoughtful questions to ponder and exercises to help you learn to turn “hope” into an actionable and tangible tool.

HOPE is receiving rave reviews and has been endorsed by everyone from Cancer Survivor and Tour de France Champion Lance Armstrong to best-selling authors Dr. Ken Blanchard and Dr. Jim Belasco who calls HOPE – “the trail blazing management book of our time!”